(a) The words in the box can be used to fill gaps 1-16. However, in many cases, you will either have to change the form or the tense. Use each word once only.

cede expand flatten prowl

motivate compel stampede push out

catch up compromise win out encroach

contribute nullify diminish claim

While there will always be a minority of poachers 1.________________ by their innate cruelty and greed, it is probably fair to say that the vast majority are 2. ________________ in this awful activity out of economic necessity. Similarly, in developing countries where overpopulation is becoming increasingly problematic, and as communities 3. ________________ further and further ________________ into the wilderness to find a place to live, they are 4. ________________ on the habitat of wild and dangerous animals more and more. There is bound to be increased contact between and conflict with natural predators and wild animals that would not otherwise be in the line of fire, and this is another cause of their 5. ________________ numbers. When it is a straight choice between survival and an environmental conscience, the former 6. ________________ every time, and instinct as well as their sense of responsibility to their families will compel farmers and community leaders to hunt and kill dangerous predators 7. ________________ around their villages in the night, and herds of elephants capable of 8. ________________ their way through and 9. ________________ whole towns. Moreover, many of these communities lead an agrarian lifestyle, and when their livestock – and so, by implication, their livelihood – is threatened by predation, this will also inevitably 10. ________________ them to act to 11. ________________ the threat. And there are other considerations, too; after all, livestock needs a place to graze and land is also required for the cultivation of crops. And with an ever-expanding number of mouths to feed, the only logical solution is to 12. ________________ more of the land for agricultural purposes. This leads to trees being cut down, and 13. ________________ the stability of the soil. Precious nutrients are quickly washed away and the land becomes more and more arid, 14. __________ to another of the dangerous climate-related phenomena; that of desertification. Indeed, deforestation and the 15. __________ of the deserts go hand-in-hand. Not alone are farmers claiming more of the land for themselves then, vast swathes of habitat are being 16. __________ to the advancing desert. For many wild animals, their entire ecosystem is being destroyed, putting their long-term survival in extreme doubt.

(b) Match the words in Column A taken from Text (a) above with their definitions in Column B.

Column A

Answer

Column B

(a) innate

(b) conscience

(c) agrarian

(d) cultivation

(e) arid

(f) desertification

(g) deforestation

(h) swathe

(i) ecosystem

(i) something you are born with

(ii) very dry and hostile to life

(iii) a long strip or large area (of land)

(iv) the drying out of land to the extent that it becomes very arid

(v) the felling, burning or removal by other means of very large numbers of trees

(vi) all the living things in an area and how they interact

(vii) the farming of land / preparing of land for crops

(viii) of or relating to agriculture

(ix) the part of you that judges whether your actions are moral or immoral

(c) Use the words from Column A above to complete these sentences.

His ____________ sense of empathy with the natural world saw him champion the cause of the endangered grey wolf population, despite how unpopular this made him amongst the local population, which was mainly comprised of sheep farmers.

His guilty ____________ prevented him from granting planning approval for the new mall. It would not only have been an eyesore but also the death knell of the local snail population.

The ____________ is very finely balanced and the invasion of this non-marsupial creature will have a devastating effect on local wildlife.

____________ of the land brought them into direct conflict with the natural world. Only, in this case, the latter won out; eventually, the abundance of predatory animals in the area became too much of a liability for the locals to put up with and they left, surrendering their farms back to Mother Nature.

A ____________ of rock the size of a small Island split from the mainland and fell Into the sea causing a tsunami.

____________ is one of the most significant factors contributing to the global warming phenomenon. Trees are nature’s regulator of carbon dioxide levels. The depleting reserve of trees in the world will have far-reaching consequences.

The nomadic tribes of the Sahara are some of the few peoples well positioned to cope with the problems which will invenitably arise as a result of ____________.

They are a(n) ____________ people; their livelihoods centre around working the land.

A massive land-reclamation project is underway in the ____________ southwest of Jordan, where it is hoped to stem the progress of the desert and indeed put it back into retreat.

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